On holiday with your motorhome in and around Tilburg

Touring through small Brabant villages, and driving through picture-postcard countryside filled with sheep and windmills makes you hungry. We position our motorhome on our pitch at ‘Camperplaats Heusden' straight away. Even though we could walk right into the fortified town from here, we take our bikes because we have planned an afternoon in the nearby Loon and Drunen Dunes.

As we stroll along the cobblestones, it’s like being in an open-air museum. We settle down for lunch in the Vismarkt (Fish Market) so we can explore the history of the Heusden garrison town on a full stomach. After visiting the Gouverneurshuis, a museum devoted to history, art and culture, our heads are full of facts about the town, the Waterlinie and the catastrophic lightning storm in the 17^th century.

The Loon and Drunen Dunes are described by many a walker as the Brabant Sahara. The national park, more than 3000 hectares in size, is made up mostly of shifting sands. If you are expecting only sand drifts, you’ll be disappointed, and we find out during our strenuous walk that this Brabant nature reserve has much more to offer. We enjoy to the full the silence that prevails there, what a blessing. Back in Heusden we drink a toast to our trip through Brabant, and enjoy the views across the Bergse Maas canal. What a wonderful way to round off the first day of our holiday.

The largest theme park in the Netherlands, Efteling is just a 20-minute drive from our motorhome pitch. We buy a ticket online and drive straight to Kaatsheuvel after breakfast.

Wow! It’s back to being a child again the moment you see all the fairy tales from your childhood come to life. The big bad wolf in grandmother’s bed, Snow White in her glass coffin, and shoes that dance. The Fairy Tale Wood is a trip down memory lane. The adrenaline rushes through your body on the many roller coasters in this beautifully landscaped park. I’ve no idea how many kilometres we walked today to see all the shows and attractions. What a day!

As soon as the gates at Efteling close, we head towards Tilburg, where we park the motorhome just 50 metres from Stadscamping Tilburg on one of the 10 motorhome pitches with views of the Spoorpark. Despite our motorhome being right in the centre of this Brabant town, it feels like we are in an oasis of peace, especially after the gates are locked at closing time for visitors. Tomorrow we will climb the Kempentoren, a tower more than 30 metres high.

Waking up in a city when you are travelling in a motorhome is something that does not happen very often! Spoorpark turns out to be a large community initiative, a trendy city park that opened its doors in 2019. A place to chill out, to play sport or to view the city from above. After a good breakfast, we put on our shoes and venture up to the top. The tower actually wobbles a little bit!

As well as the Spoorpark (Railway Park) there is also the Spoorzone (Railway Zone), a trendy hangout with a Gourmet Market, the LocHal - a library the likes of which as you have never seen before in a former locomotive shed – and many upcoming and trendy catering outlets. What’s nice about this town is that the distances are easily covered on foot. We tighten our shoe laces and stroll to the Piushaven, the largest downtown harbour in Brabant. The many cafes beside the water are great places to relax.

We add a few miles to our walk and follow the water to Moerenburg on the opposite side. This is a nature reserve which not only has the thickest tree in Tilburg, but also a steel construction that represents the former Moerenburg House. It turns out to be part of a walking route mapped out along intersections. The Van Gogh NP Walking Route Tilburg. We’ll have to come back again to do that, because another 14 kilometres won’t fit in with our plans right now. We have just one more destination on our wish list.

We leave the Stadscamping and fifteen minutes later we are in the beating heart of Hilvarenbeek, the Vrijthof. This has been a place where people have met since the Middle Ages. It’s hard to imagine that this natural oasis with several works of art was once a place where hangings took place. Times change, but thankfully the beautiful views of this square haven’t. We round off the day at one of the many cafes, and dream about our next trip, knowing full well that this village is also home to SafariPark Beekse Bergen. But we would need at least one full day for that. On safari and so close by!

We start planning right away…do we combine it with Landgoed De Utrecht Estate and the Andreas Schotel walking route or with the Oisterwijk Woods and Fens… Brabant has given us a taste for more, that’s for sure!